The impact of sponsorship deals on brand recognition on the sports market

Sport je u današnjem svijetu jedna od najpopularnijih i neisključivih sastavnica svakodnevnog života velikog broja ljudi. Sve veći broj sudionika odlučuje se upravo za neki oblik sportske aktivnosti u vidu ispunjenja svog slobodnog vremena, a brojni profesionalni sportaši danas su puno više od svog zanimanja. S obzirom na svakodnevnu izloženost medijima, profesionalni sportaši prepoznatljivi su u jako širokom krugu javnosti. Tijekom vremena sport je iz čistog vida zabave postao globalni fenomen i svojevrsna industrija, a njegovom rastu i razvoju ne nazire se kraj. Stoga ne začuđuje činjenica o atraktivnosti ove industrije koja privlači sve više sudionika sa svih strana tržišta. Uz mnoge druge grane, u sportu se razvio i marketing, i to u posebnom, specifičnom obliku. Marketing se općenito odnosi na proces razmjene između proizvođača i potrošača s ciljem ostvarivanja profita na obostrano zadovoljstvo. Cilj diplomskog rada je istražiti i objasniti ulogu, značenje i utjecaj različitih vrsta ugovora o sponzorstvu na zapaženost pojedinih marki na sportskom tržištu te primjene tih ugovora u sportskom marketingu. U radu je prikazano i objašnjeno sportsko tržište i sportski marketing, a zatim i sponzorstvo kao jedan od ključnih alata sportskog marketinga. Objašnjeni su načini sklapanja te su opisane različite vrste tih ugovora, kao i njihove koristi i rizici. Također, navedeni su neki od svjetski poznatih primjera primjene sponzorskih ugovora, kao i njihov utjecaj i rezultati. Uz to, prikazan je i razvoj sportskog marketinga i sponzorstva kroz vrijeme. Nadalje, u radu je obrađeno i opisno, kvantitativno primarno istraživanje provedeno strukturiranim anketnim upitnikom na određenom uzorku ljudi te su prikazani dobiveni rezultati.In today's world, sport is one of the most popular and non-exclusive components of everydays life for most people. There is an increasing number of participants who choose some way of sports activity in order to fulfill their free time, and many professional athletes today are far more than their profession. Considering the fact that professional athletes are highly exposed in media every day, they are being recognized in very wide public circle. Over the time, sport has developed from being just a form of entertainment to a global phenomenon and a kind of unique industry. We can still see no end for its growth and expansion. Therefore, the popularity and interest for this industry, which attracts more and more participants, is not astonishing. Among many other branches of sports industry, marketing had also been developed in its special, specific way. Marketing defines as the exchange process between two sides – supply and demand, in order to make profit to mutual satisfaction. The main goal of this paper is to explore and explain the role, the meaning and the impact of different types of sponsorship deals on brand recognition on the sports market and to show different ways of application of that kind of deals in sports marketing. The paper shows and explains sports market and sports marketing, followed by explanation of sponsorship as one of the main sports marketing tools. Furthermore, paper explains some ways for concluding the sponsorship deal, defines different types of sports sponsorship contracts and specifies its benefits and risks. Also, some of the most famous sponsorship deals at the sports market have been listed as examples, as well as their impact and results. Paper also includes short overview of development of sports marketing and sponsorship over time. In conclusion, this paper brings the results of carried primary research that has been conducted with structured survey over the specified sample of people